"It's time for me to show you your new home, " Mike says, standing up.
"Let's go."
Eduardo approaches Iñaki and shakes his hand. It's a warm greeting. Iñaki takes a few seconds to recognize that feeling again; human kindness.
"My apartment is next to Maria's, if you need anything you can find me there."
"Thank you."
Mike walks out the door and Iñaki follows him with Rambo at his heels and Sofia in his arms.
"We're on the fourth floor," says Mike going up the stairs, "Eduardo and Maria are on the third, Martina and Victor on the fifth. The rest of the floors are empty."
"Why aren't you all together?"
"I asked the same thing when I arrived...Eduardo and Víctor are in their "real" homes. When they started bringing people, they were assigned apartments on every floor. At one point all the houses were occupied. Today only the apartments of those who came this far are."
"I still find it strange."
"Me too...talk to Victor."
"He's in charge?"
Mike stops in front of the 4th D and pulls a key out of his pocket. Iñaki looks at the door and thinks he hears hundreds of moans. He blinks. Silence. Mike opens the door. The sound was in his mind.
"Welcome! We have 3 rooms, one is mine so you can choose between the other two."
"Perfect."
"In that closet, there are clothes that will surely do you good. I'm going to ask Maria if she has any clothes for Sofia. In the kitchen there is food, take what you need. You want me to take Rambo for a walk and give him something to eat?"
"I would appreciate it."
"Ok... see ya later. Come on, Rambo! Goodbye, little princess!"
Iñaki visits the two rooms. Both are equally large, same bed and the rest of the furniture. Only one detail is different. One of the rooms has a painting of a castle on a cliff and the other has one of the shipwrecked people fighting against a rough sea.
The castle attracts him, so Iñaki decides to keep that room.
Then he approaches the closet and examines the clothes.
After a few seconds, Iñaki chooses some jeans and a green sweater.
Iñaki removes his clothes carefully, getting rid of the layers that cover his skin. Like a snake, he gets rid of who he was and mutates into who he will be. But there, naked in front of the wardrobe mirror, he is not him yet.
It's like watching someone else. That face isn't his, that body doesn't belong to him. He falls to his knees on the ground.
"Valentina," Iñaki whispers between tears.
Iñaki cries for her and him, he cries for the girl and the dog; he cries for everything. The pain of the world gathers in his chest. He closes his eyes. He sleeps.
The aroma of coffee opens Iñaki's eyes. The light enters through the window and is reflected in his pupils.
"Awake?" he hears Mike's voice behind the door. "I have a cup of coffee for you."
Iñaki looks over his shoulder and checks that Sofia is still sleeping. Iñaki removes a strand of hair from her eyelids and gets out of bed.
"I'm coming."
As soon as he walks through the door, Rambo throws himself at him, licks his hands, and barks happily. Mike hands him the coffee and when he grabs the cup its warmth infects Iñaki with optimism.
"How's Sofia"
"Okay, she is still sleeping.
"Perfect," Mike says and invites Iñaki to the table. "Before you talk to the others, I'd like to ask you something."
"Tell me."
" Are you willing to come with me to look for survivors?"
"Yes, I am willing."
"Cool!" says the Yankee, jumping up and down in his chair. "We have a city to save."
Iñaki laughs from the depths of his being. He does not know if it is coffee, Mike, his heroism, or the light of a new day, but hope reappears in Iñaki; green, fertile, and ready to save the world.
"Very well. Victor came a few hours ago while you were asleep. He wants to talk to you. Maria told me she's coming to get Sofia so you can stay calm."
"About what?"
"I suppose he'll want to train you," he says, uttering the last word with irony. "For now, don't tell him you're gonna help me find survivors."
"Ok."